Major General Henry W. Halleck, commander of the Union Department of Missouri, issues General Orders 32:
Insurgent rebels in the northern counties of this State [Missouri], which are occupied by our troops, under the guise of peaceful citizens, have resumed their occupation of burning bridges and destroying railroads and telegraph wires. These men are guilty of the highest crime known to the code of war and the punishment is death. …
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Hereafter the towns and counties in which such destruction of public property takes place will be made to pay the expenses of all repairs unless it be [sic] shown that the people of such towns or counties could not have prevented it on account of the superior force of the enemy.
Postscript: As a result of this order many civilians were summarily executed as insurgents
[added 10/18/2026]
Subsequent Events:
Authority:
“Law of the Jungle”
ccc-2point0.com/preface
References:
Matthew Galman, ed., The Civil War Chronicle, (New York: Crown, 2000), 129-30.
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